Simon Groom's inaugural speech as ATT President

Simon said:

Thank you for the introduction David, and a special thanks for all of your hard work, and efforts, over the last year. As you step down after your Presidential year, you leave the ATT in great shape. I hope to continue the progress that you have made.

My journey

My ATT story began over 30 years ago just after I had passed my Tax examinations. I was initially asked if I would lecture at one of the student conferences.

Little did I know that it would lead to this – for me the pinnacle of a long career in tax. The fact that I have the chance to be President of this great organisation makes me extremely proud.

Given my background in tax education, it’s not surprising that ATT, as an educational charity, would end up playing an important role in my life.

The student conference role led to an involvement in the Education sub-committee. And then to a seat at the Council table.

I have fond memories of my first Council meeting at 12 Upper Belgrave Street back in 2003, the then home of ATT and CIOT. I’ll admit to feeling a little nervous when I made my first contribution.

Seated around the table were people that I had long respected and looked up to and I was wondering what they would make of my thoughts. Council members at that time included Andrew Hubbard, John Kimmer, Trevor Johnson, and Peter Horsman.

I’ll always remember Peter’s interventions as being few and far between but extremely insightful, he had a knack of looking at things from a different viewpoint and it made for great debate.

And debate is something that is extremely important to me.

Our ability to have a vigorous debate, to agree or disagree, but always to gracefully accept the majority view is extremely valuable.

 It’s therefore no surprise that my views were received with respect, as they have been over the years, even if people do not always agree with them.

I believe this is one of the great strengths of ATT, and particularly ATT Council.

ATT is a hugely diverse organisation in all senses of the word, and it is important that everyone has their say.

That way, all opinions can be listened to and considered.  Whatever your involvement with ATT, I urge you to let your views be known. This will have an impact on the future of our ATT, and our profession.

Celebrating ATT

And talking of my ATT journey. I, along with fellow officers and Council members, had great pleasure in attending the ATT admission ceremony in London last month.

Here, we welcomed our newest members into the ATT family. Becoming a member of the Association involves a lot of hard work and a deliberately tough set of exams, so I was delighted to meet them, and their family and friends, to hear their stories and to celebrate with them.

I was struck by the fact that everyone had a different story to tell.

We tend to think of new ATT members as being recent graduates or school leavers, but I was amazed to hear from those who had taken what might be called “non-traditional" routes into the tax profession.

Once again, this only adds to the diversity within ATT and, as a result, a greater richness of debate.

I wish them all the very best of luck in their careers and their ATT journeys - hopefully a few of them will be standing here in my place in the future!

The work we do here at the ATT is so important, and I want to take a moment to celebrate our incredible team. As David has already mentioned – I too, had the honour of watching our technical team pick up the prestigious award for Outstanding Contribution to Taxation in 2022-23 by a Not-for-profit Organisation at the Tolley’s Taxation Awards.

This award is voted for by the public, so it goes to show that what we do is recognised and appreciated well beyond these (virtual) walls.

Ele Theochari, a member of ATT’s Council, was also shortlisted for the Rising Star award, while Will Silsby, who retired as a technical officer in December last year after more than 10 years, made the final eight for Tax Mentor of the Year.

The number of nominations shows we must be doing something right, it’s just a shame we couldn’t quite follow in the footsteps of Manchester City in winning a treble!

I want to wish Will well in his retirement – and I want to praise our current ATT Technical Team – now four-strong – and the committees they support, for their work for a better, more efficient tax system for all affected by it: taxpayers, their advisers, and the authorities. 

I won’t list everything that they do, but they work tirelessly behind the scenes representing ATT on consultative committees to enable the views of members to be communicated to government.

They work with HMRC, to make the tax system better. They educate our members, and the public by writing topical articles, providing information to the press, delivering webinars, and presenting at conferences.

HMRC service levels

One of our main charitable objectives is to “promote the sound administration of the law for the public benefit”.

We do this by drawing on the experience of our thousands of members to help ensure that, for the public, the UK tax system is as workable and as fair as possible.

But at the moment, calling the system “workable” is a stretch. We have been outspoken about the unacceptable service levels taxpayers have had to put up with from HMRC. The problems currently faced by taxpayers, and their advisers, when trying to get in touch with HMRC, are having a big impact on both businesses and individuals.

I know that David has already touched on this subject, and talked about it in his speech last year. But it is such an important subject for our members that I make no apology for mentioning it again.

Last month, we were surprised by the announcement from HMRC that it would pilot a new ‘seasonal model’ for the Self-Assessment helpline. By ‘seasonal model’ they mean the closure of the helpline for three months over the summer.

If it seems like only a few weeks since they were encouraging taxpayers to file their returns early, that’s because it was! They pointed out the peace of mind of avoiding the stress of last-minute filing, what they failed to mention was the stress that will be caused by the closure of the helpline.

I think this is what you call mixed messages!

Over the summer, taxpayers are being encouraged to use HMRC’s digital services instead, including its online guidance, digital assistant, and webchat.

But many of us are concerned that those unable to find the answers that they are seeking will turn towards unofficial sources such as online forums. This increases the risk that they will receive inaccurate advice, or no advice at all.

This could lead to errors, non-compliance, and more problems for HMRC and taxpayers alike further down the line.

While ministers and HMRC bosses present this as a ‘pilot of a new seasonal model’, this is just one more example that HMRC is overwhelmed with the demands placed on it, without being given the resources to deliver.  

And despite calls for simplification, the tax system is becoming ever more complex and HMRC cannot meet the demands of that complexity.

HMRC must have the resources to provide the services needed by taxpayers to assist them with their filing obligations. This is something we have repeatedly called for and without which it is unlikely that services will improve.

Tax simplification

And talking of simplification, the ATT has also long extolled the virtues of simplicity in the tax system. We want to ensure all taxpayers are clear on their responsibilities, and those of HMRC. However, simplification, sadly, seems to be slipping further away.

We regret the decision to abolish the Office of Tax Simplification. We spoke out against it. We asked the current government to reverse it. But they still went ahead.

Instead, we are promised that simplification will be “embedded” in tax policy making. But what does this mean? We will have to wait and see.

As all of this plays out, we are not sitting idly by. Alongside a group of other professional bodies, we wrote to the Financial Secretary in April offering our support to help Treasury and HMRC officials achieve simplification. We set out a number of processes which the government should introduce to demonstrate its commitment to simplification. We met with the minister in May, to try to persuade her of these.

One positive note is the announcement during debate on the Finance Bill that the government will provide Parliament with an annual report on progress towards simplification.

The keen interest in this issue being taken by the Treasury Committee suggests there will be pressure on ministers and officials to deliver on simplification agenda.

We will play our part in holding them to account. I have written today to the Chair of the Treasury Committee encouraging her and her colleagues to consult us and other professional bodies on progress towards simplification, alongside the government’s own annual reports.

Ministers should not be left to mark their own homework!

Making Tax Digital

And talking of homework, what marks would you give HMRC for their costing of Making Tax Digital?

For years we have warned that HMRC's estimates for the scheme have vastly underestimated costs to taxpayers, and overestimated benefits to the exchequer. Now the National Audit Office have agreed. Their report last month was scathing.

You have to wonder how dimly HMRC would have viewed this behaviour had a taxpayer acted in the same way.

Despite the delays that have beset MTD, the project is still moving forward too quickly, with a lack of proper testing or piloting.

Transferring VAT records onto HMRC’s new systems created, in one year, errors totalling more than the scheme is expected to generate by 2034! Perhaps now is the time to pause and take stock before things get further out of control.

Tax education

Given my background in education it will come as no great surprise that our primary charitable objective at the Association of “promoting education and the study of tax administration and practice”, is extremely important to me. 

Education, allows people to make informed decisions about what they do in life, whether it is something as significant as choosing a career, or understanding how your PAYE deductions are calculated.

For me, this is not just about our examinations but involves a commitment to educate at all levels to ensure that we never stop learning.

You may not be aware of our education programme aimed at children at both primary and secondary level. 

Tax, funds all aspects of public services and it is important that children grow up understanding that there is no magic money tree. It is the contributions of tax-payers that fund the services that we take for granted and it is vital that all of us understand that from an early age.

We have developed lesson plans and videos which our volunteers can use in schools to both promote tax as a career and educate children as to why tax is important.

We even have a video aimed at 5-7 year olds – there is nothing like starting early! We would love to have more volunteers doing this, so please let us know if this is something you would be interested in.

For those choosing tax as a career we have a range of qualifications to suit all levels.

From our Foundation Level Qualifications to the rigorous ATT modular examinations there is something to suit everyone. And the ATT modular examinations are available through the traditional ATT route, via an Apprenticeship programme or the Tax Pathway.

And to return to the theme of lifelong learning, once qualified, members can keep their knowledge up to date by attending any of our varied CPD events.

These include conferences, branch events and webinars, some of which are free. 

And to fulfil our commitment to public education these events are also open to students and members of the public.

Conclusion

To conclude, I am honoured, and excited to be your President for the year ahead.

As we continue to get used to this post-COVID world, I’m looking forward to getting out in person to as many events as I can, and meeting you face to face.

I want to hear from you – what you think we should be saying, what you think we should be doing. And I invite you to get involved – in our committees and our branches. Your views make the debate richer and contribute to the diversity within ATT.

The ATT is a great ship to captain, but it is our members that put the wind in our sails.

So get involved, tell us what you think and help us shape the future of our ATT and our profession.

Thank you.

That concludes the 2023 Annual General Meeting. On behalf of ATT Council, please can I thank you for attending and I look forward to seeing you next year.

Watch Simon's full speech.